A TEENAGER from the Barnard Castle area has qualified for the Horse of the Year Show with the horse she originally bought for Pony Club activities.

Jill Waiton, aged 15, of Hutton Magna, and her 11-year-old Welsh Section D pony, Dyffrynceiriog Tywysog - better known as Frankie - won the qualifying open working hunter class at the Northern Horse Show at Wetherby on Sunday.

"We bought Frankie five years ago as a Pony Club pony," said her mother, Jacki. "Jill has brought him on and done it all herself, with help from her trainers."

Jill, a pupil at Egglescliffe School, is trained by Ian Brown, of Northallerton Equestrian Centre, and Claire Robinson, of Great Ayton.

"She was second at Wetherby two years ago and didn't go anywhere last year because of foot-and-mouth, so they basically had a year off," said Mrs Waiton.

Jill travels to Birmingham in October, a month after her 16th birthday, for the first Horse of the Year Show at its new venue.

"She was a bit disappointed that it is no longer held at Wembley, but she's making history by competing at the first one at the NEC in Birmingham," said Mrs Waiton.